IndyCars - The off-season: Series news and comment until the March 2014 kick-off

[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Indianapolis - the the final practice before qualifying…

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…really! Saturday morning is for teams and guys who want to try something to get that extra bit of speed before they qualify. Sometimes, it is just to make sure repairs or new installs are functioning properly, but sometimes it is desperation time, and they are throwing the kitchen sink at the car and want to see if it helped. Consequently, there aren’t a lot of cars out there risking the hardware when they are confident they will make the show, somewhere.

Some teams don’t bother with this practice, just because conditions are so different from what they will be in qualifying, they don’t want to chase something down a rabbit hole that will hurt them even more.

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Here was the order of speed for the final practice, with times and speeds for all: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing - time of 00:39.0583s for a speed of 230.425mph

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2 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan - time of 00:39.0774s for a speed of 230.312mph

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3 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport - time of 00:39.0971s for a speed of 230.196mph

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4 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske - time of 00:39.1517s for a speed of 229.875mph

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5 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - time of 00:39.1552s for a speed of 229.855mph

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6 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta - time of 00:39.1609s for a speed of 229.821mph

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7 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 00:39.1741s for a speed of 229.774mph

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8 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 00:39.1903s for a speed of 229.649mph

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9 - Charlie Kimball, AJ Foyt Enterprises - time of 00:39.3729s for a speed of 228.584mph

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Notable:

• We’re not sure why Jack Harvey needed to run this morning. The Brit is looking mid-pack but safe. Perhaps they were expecting a bit better when May began and they are looking for a little bit more.

• The same can be said for Ryan Hunter-Reay. The Floridian isn’t TOPS but he’s been good, yet he is still unsatisfied and mystified as to what he needs, perhaps because teammate Alexander Rossi had the TOP SPEED in the no-tow speed chart yesterday.

• Takuma Sato has been TOP TEN all week, so they must be checking out some change or part they added overnight.

• Marco Andretti is very unhappy with his car. They threw in a new engine overnight, hoping to improve, but it didn’t help. He’s not really in danger but he was on pole last year and he is currently the slowest Andretti car. Teammate Stefan Wilson, conversely, is very quick right now, when he needs to be.

• The four Team Penske cars are all still struggling and may be in some trouble. They keep looking for an answer and it’s clear they haven’t found it yet. They should make the show but nowhere near the top, and the unthinkable is now thinkable.

• Charlie Kimball and teammate Sebastien Bourdais are really in trouble. The remarkable thing is both of them are usually very fast at Indy. Their young Canadian teammate Dalton Kellett looks safer. No, he won’t get the pole but he should be on the bottom, but in the show.

• RC Enerson is also in real trouble as is Simona De Silvestro. RC has been on the bottom all week but Simona was mid-pack, until Fast Friday. Now, she needs to dig deep and pull it out. The engineering prowess at Paretta Autosport is there so it’s up to her. Neither showed up for this final practice so they are going with what they have and praying to the racing gods.
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RC Enerson (left) Sebastien Bourdais and Simona De Silvestro (right)

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Jack Harvey

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Saturday Broadcast schedule - Qualifying from Noon-5:50pm (Peacock Premium 12-2pm, NBC 2-3pm, NBCSN, 3-5pm - all times EASTERN)

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Indianapolis - the field is largely qualified for the Indy 500…

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The 35 cars attempted to qualify for the Indy 500 today and spots P10 through P30 on the grid are firmly set. The TOP NINE spots are also known but not set as they will erase their times from today and go after pole on Sunday in the Fast Nine Shootout - all equals again before their runs.

The last row, P31, P32 and P33, will also be set in Last Chance Qualifying on Sunday and there are 5 drivers who failed to make the TOP 30 today vying for the 3 spots, so 2 will go home, out of the race, by the end of LCQ on Sunday.

Here are the Fast Nine qualifiers from today in order of speed, with the 4-lap average of each:

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1 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - average speed of 231.828mph

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2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - average speed of 231.648mph

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3 - Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing - average speed of 231.639mph

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4 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing - average speed of 231.616mph

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5 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing - average speed of 231.483mph

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6 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing - average speed of 231.164mph

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7 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - average speed of 231.145mph

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8 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport - average speed of 231.139mph

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9 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - average speed of 231.104mph

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After the 35 cars all got their first shot at qualifying many cars came out to try to improve their speeds and that included Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi who wanted to improve from P7 - just to see what will be necessary to be P1 on Sunday. He now wishes he hadn’t, as during the run he broke loose in Turn 2 and hit the Safer Barrier hard. Alex walked away and the car is extensively damaged but the team thinks it’s repairable before the Shootout on Sunday. He retains his spot in the Fast Nine and can go for pole.

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Alex takes a trip

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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Having a much better time was Rinus VeeKay for Ed Carpenter Racing who was able to improve his time on his 2nd run, getting into the Fast Nine and bumping Alexander Rossi for Andretti Autosport to P10 and out. Also improving a great deal was Ed Jones for Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan who improved from P19 to P11, almost making the Fast Nine.

Alexander Rossi, (left) and Ed Jones

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Here is the set grid for spots P10 through P30 - Rows 4 through 10:

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Row 4

P10 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
P11 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
P12 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 5

P13 - Pietro Fittipaldi, Dale Coyne w/ Rick Ware Racing
P14 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
P15 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 6

P16 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner
P17 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
P18 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 7

P19 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
P20 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
P21 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

Row 8

P22 - JR Hildebrand, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P23 - Santino Ferrucci, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P24 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 9

P25 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta
P26 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
P27 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 10

P28 - Stefan Wilson, Andretti Autosport
P29 - Max Chilton, Carlin
P30 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Sitting on the bubble at P30 for much of the day was Dalton Kellett for AJ Foyt Enterprises. Trying to get in the show but failing to beat Dalton’s speed were Will Power for Team Penske, Simona De Silvestro for Paretta Autosport, Charlie Kimball for AJ Foyt, Sage Karam for Dreyer & Reinbold and RC Enerson for Top Gun Racing. All made more than one attempt to get in, but as the day got hotter their chances evaporated, though it was close with De Silvestro and Power.

All five are in Last Chance Qualifying on Sunday morning, but only three will survive.

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left to right, Will Power, Simona De Slivestro, Charlie Kimball…

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…Sage Karam and RC Enerson

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On Sunday morning the LCQ drivers will get half an hour for practice at 11:00am. Following that the Fast Nine get to practice at 11:30am. Those can be seen on Peacock.

At 1:00PM EASTERN, NBC-SN will start to carry practice and LCQ qualifying.

At 2:30pm EASTERN, NBC will carry the qualifying, including the Fast Nine Shootout.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning at Indianapolis - The Last Chance Qualifiers practice…

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…at least three of them did, anyway. The group in the LCQ include Will Power for Team Penske, Simona De Silvestro for Paretta Autosport, Charlie Kimball for AJ Foyt Enterprises, Sage Karam for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and RC Enerson for Top Gun Racing.

Will Power and Sage Karam both elected not to practice at all, as they didn’t want to heat up their cars or risk anything, given that they didn’t make enough changes overnight to worry about the effect of them. Additionally, since Simona’s engineers are essentially Team Penske engineers, her practice run was demonstrative of what Will could expect from the engineering desk for his car.

The track is much hotter today than it was yesterday, but these five are only competing against each other, not the rest of the field, so weather comparisons that affect speed are pointless. All 5 will have to deal with what they are given and they all start from zero, again, as well. Yesterday’s times mean nothing.

In addition to the LCQ drivers a few of the Fast Nine cars went out to practice, as well, and they were faster, of course, than the LCQ guys, but not as fast as they were yeasteday. Again, it doesn’t matter as all nine Shootout cars will be equals again, today.

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Here was the order of speed for the Sunday practice, with speeds for all: Speed shown is for a single lap.

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1 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing - speed of 230.509mph

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2 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport - speed of 230.450mph

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3 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - speed of 230.282mph

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4 - Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport - speed of 228.998mph

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5 - Charlie Kimball, AJ Foyt Enterprises - speed of 227.920mph

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6 - RC Enerson [R], Top Gun Racing - speed of 227.384mph

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Notable:

• All the cars are running flat out, all around the circuit. No one is lifting for the corners, so the speeds are essentially engineering-driven, with the driver expected to use his or her tools in the car to make it optimal around the track. That amounts to adjusting the weight jacker, which must be changed when entering and exiting the corners and short chutes at either end of the track. If the driver gets that right, their fate is in the hands of the engineers and mechanics.

• RC Enerson for Top Gun seems to be unable to get enough speed to survive, so the only question is who will be the other driver to go home? The first guess is Karam, as Dreyer & Reinbold is a single car team with no one to help, while Will and Simona are helping each other (along with all of Team Penske) and Charlie has the Saturday runs of Sebastien Bourdais and Dalton Kellett to help.

• This is not Sage Karam’s first LCQ experience. He has been on the last row before and he is a fighter. We are not counting him out just yet, but he is one of the unknowns, this morning.

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Will Power (left) and Sage Karam - unknowns

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The Last Chance Qualifiers will run at 1:00pm EASTERN time and will be broadcast on NBC-SN, as well as Peacock.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis - the LCQ hold their session…

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… The Last Chance Qualifiers all made their bid to get into the show today and we have our final row, Row 11, made up. P31 will be Sage Karam for Dreyer & Reinbold, P32 will be Will Power for Team Penske, and P33 will be Simona De Silvestro for Paretta Autosport. Going home will be Charlie Kimball for AJ Foyt Enterprises and RC Enerson for Top Gun Racing.

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Here was the order of speed for the LCQ session, with speeds for all: Speed shown is a 4-lap average

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1 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing - speed of 229.156mph

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2 - Will Power, Team Penske - speed of 228.876mph

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3 - Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport - speed of 228.353mph

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4 - Charlie Kimball, AJ Foyt Enterprises - speed of 227.584mph

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5 - RC Enerson [R], Top Gun Racing - speed of 226.813mph

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Notable:

• Sage Karam did what Sage Karam does - Dig deep and pull one out. Karam was the first to go out and set the speeds in every lap everyone else needed to match or beat. No one did. Congrats to Sage and Dreyer & Reinbold!

• 2nd out to qualify was Will Power and he was almost as fast as Sage on the first, second and third laps, but he brushed the wall in Turn 2 on the fourth lap and slowed considerably. He slightly bent the tow link, but finished the lap and it was still good enough to put him 2nd.

• Simona went out 3rd and none of her laps were as fast as Sage or Will, but she was consistent throughout and no sliding around, as she did yesterday. She sat in her car on the bubble for the remainder of qualifying - some 50 minutes.

• After Simona, Charlie’s first lap was only as fast as Simona’s average, so he needed to go faster with succeeding laps and he couldn’t.

• RC was last out initially, and was still the slowest of the field. He had been slightly faster on Saturday, when it was cooler. He went out for a 2nd attempt when clouds rolled in to cool the track, but he actually went slower. From a driving standpoint, RC has been perfect, but the car just doesn’t have it.

• As the track cooled the team furiously adjusted the car for Charlie’s 2nd run, late in the session, but it was slower than his first run and time ran out for a 3rd attempt.

• While it’s no fun to go home, Charlie and RC have some stellar company. James Hinchcliffe, Emerson Fittipaldi, Johnny Rutherford, Fernando Alonso and Al Unser, Jr. are among the excellent drivers who have failed to qualify for the Indy 500 in the past.

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Sage Karam

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Next up, the Fast Nine Shootout for the pole. This can be seen on NBC, starting at 2:30pm EASTERN time and on Peacock.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis - the Fast Nine Shootout for the pole…

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…of the 105th running of the Indy 500 is complete and on the pole will be Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing, besting Colton Herta for Andretti Autosport by 0.030 seconds.

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Here was the order of speed for the Fast Nine Shootout, with speeds for all: Speed shown is 4-lap average

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1 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - speed of 231.685mph

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2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - speed of 231.655mph

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3 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing - speed of 231.511mph

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4 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing - speed of 231.504mph

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5 - Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing - speed of 231.032mph

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6 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - speed of 230.616mph

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7 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport - speed of 230.499mph

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8 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing - speed of 230.355mph

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9 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - speed of 230.318mph

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Notable:

• The cars made their attempts in reverse order of where they qualified yesterday.

• The last time Scott took pole at Indy he also went on to WIN the race. It’s a long race, but his competitors have to be wondering what they have to do to beat him. He has both a fast qualifying car and a fast race set-up car.

• This is the fastest qualifying field EVER at an Indy 500.

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Scott’s reaction to WINNING pole for the 105th running of the Indy 500

Chip Ganassi Racing

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Scott Dixon - on the pole

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(continued)…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis - the Fast Nine Shootout for the pole…(pt 2)…

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With these results, here is the grid for the 105th running of the Indy 500: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

P1 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
P2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
P3 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 2

P4 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
P5 - Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing
P6 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 3

P7 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
P8 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
P9 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 4

P10 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
P11 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
P12 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 5

P13 - Pietro Fittipaldi, Dale Coyne w/ Rick Ware Racing
P14 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
P15 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 6

P16 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner
P17 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
P18 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 7

P19 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
P20 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
P21 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

Row 8

P22 - JR Hildebrand, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P23 - Santino Ferrucci, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P24 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 9

P25 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta
P26 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
P27 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 10

P28 - Stefan Wilson, Andretti Autosport
P29 - Max Chilton, Carlin
P30 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 11

P31 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
P32 - Will Power, Team Penske
P33 - Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport

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Almost immediately after the Fast Nine Shootout was complete, teams set up to come out for the first post-qualifying practice, with all cars returning to race trim.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis - Post-qualifying practice begins…

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As soon as the Fast Nine Shootout was completed and the press was satisfied with their interviews, the teams came out for the first practice back in race trim, as they last were on Thursday. This kind of practice is almost indistinguishable from raceday, with many cars at speed everywhere, passing and being passed. For the drivers this is nothing but fun.

Not everyone came out right away, as the Fast Nine cars were all still being converted back to race trim from qualifying trim and others were working on things.

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Here was the order of speed for the Sunday afternoon practice, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie; times are for a single lap.

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1 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:39.8850s for a speed of 225.649mph

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2 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:39.8880s for a speed of 225.632mph

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3 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 00:39.9197s for a speed of 225.453mph

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4 - Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:39.9236s for a speed of 225.431mph

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5 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 00:40.0352s for a speed of 224.802mph

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6 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
7 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
8 - Stefan Wilson, Andretti Autosport
9 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
10 - Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta

11 - Will Power, Team Penske
12 - JR Hildebrand, AJ Foyt Enterprises
13 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
14 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
15 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
16 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Arrow McLaren SP
17 - Santino Ferrucci, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18 - Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
19 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner
20 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan

21 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
22 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
23 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
24 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
25 - Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
26 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
27 - Max Chilton, Carlin
28 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
29 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
30 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing

31 - Pietro Fittipaldi, Dale Coyne w/ Rick Ware Racing
32 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
33 - Simona De Silvestro, Paretta Autosport

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Notable:

• The speed Alex Palou put up leaves no doubt his car is in great shape after his qualifying shunt, yesterday.

• It’s easy to see the relative difference between qualifying set-up and race set-up looking at Will Power, here. He struggled into the P32 spot in qualifying trim but is comfortably running P11 in race trim.

• Simon Pagenaud blew an engine in Turn 1 after 21 laps, but apparently put little to no fluid down. Most cars will be getting a new engine, anyway, but this ended his day. Before it blew, Simon dropped to the back and then passed 12 cars, dropped back again and then passed 9 cars, dropped back a third time and passed 10 cars. He is very happy with the set-up.

• Simona De Silvestro spent most of the practice running in and out of the pits, presumably to give her pit crew practice runs. Beth Paretta is deciding who will be on the crew for the race and a number of women are vying for the spots. She has said she will give them to the best performers, whether man or woman.

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Alex Palou

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The next time cars will hit the track will be for final practice for Carb Day on Friday, the 28th. Between now and then the drivers will fan out across the country to promote the race with local sports and news appearances. Look for them near you!

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M

[MarkyS]

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Some great moments from yesterday’s incredible Indy 500…

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NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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Meyer Shank Racing

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INDYCAR on NBC

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NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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This one will be remembered…“Hey, where were you when Helio WON his 4th Indy 500???”

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M

[MarkyS]

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Stuff we love…

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The day before the race, eventual-WINNER Helio Castroneves heard there was a super fan of his who had decorated his house with Helio-climbing-the-fence images for the anual “Spectacle of Home” in the Indianapolis area. He promised to come back and celebrate if he WON the race…

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway

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And sure enough, he kept his promise!

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway

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For IndyCar drivers, the fans are everything…The reason they get to do what they love to do.

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M

[MarkyS]

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IndyCar driver Pippa Mann is racing this weekend on the Nürburgring…

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…Nordschleife circuit for the ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring, driving the #53 Audi R8 LMS GT4 for WS Racing on the famous “Girls Only” squad, with co-drivers Carrie Schreiner, Célia Martin - both European GT drivers - and IMSA SportsCar Champion Christina Nielsen.

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The WS Racing Audi…

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…and the ladies, left to right rear, Christina, Pippa and Carrie,
with Célia up front

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WS Racing has another squad racing, as well, but the team has run the “Girls Only” squad since 2019, staffing it with as many women as possible, just like Beth Paretta’s IndyCar team, Paretta Autosport. The entire crew of mechanics, engineers and driving Iine up is all female.

The 24-hour race is in its first hour, and the weather is already cold and rainy - par for the course on “the Green Hell.” The girls qualified P1 in the SP8 class. We’ll let you know how they do.

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M

[MarkyS]

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the ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring…update…

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The WS Racing # 53 Audi R8 LMS GT4 has been exchanging the lead in the SP8 class with the # 54 Lexus for Novel Racing for most of the race, with Carrie Schreiner last in the Audi. Pippa reported…

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Pippa Mann

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Then, about an hour ago, the fog on the Nordschleife circuit got so bad that Race Control posted a red flag to stop the race for safety reasons, with the intent of starting up again around 7:00am local time in Germany.

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Pippa Mann

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We’ll check in again in the morning.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday from the Nürburgring…They DID IT! WS Racing’s “Girls Only” squad WINS…

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…the SP8 class of the ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring on the famous Nordschleife circuit. IndyCar driver Pippa Mann was driving the # 53 Audi R8 LMS GT4, along with Carrie Schreiner, Célia Martin and IMSA SportsCar Champion Christina Nielsen.

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The race was redflagged overnight due to heavy fog on the Nordschleife circuit, but it was restarted today at about Noon, Germany time. The Audi battled most of the race with the # 54 Lexus for Novel Racing, trading the lead back and fourth. Closer Célia Martin took the lead with about an hour and a half to go and brought the car home to P1. It was the highest-finishing Audi in the race.

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Audi Sport

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CONGRATS, ladies and well done. Proud of you, Pippa! Your first 24 hour WIN at “the Green Hell.”

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M

[MarkyS]

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Great news for Santino Ferrucci - He’s IN at Detroit…

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Santino Ferrucci had a great finish in the Indy 500, going from a P23 start to a spectacular P6 finish - the highest-finishing car in the Rahal Letterman Lanigan stable. The gang at Hy-Vee grocery stores - his race sponsors - were paying attention, and today Hy-Vee chairman Randy Edeker announced the store chain will partner with Frito-Lay to put Santino into the double-header this coming weekend on Belle Isle.

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Santino Ferrucci

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Said Edeker, “The excitement and energy that the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team brings forth to our partnership is like none other. The team truly cares about its fans just like we care about our customers at Hy-Vee. Since signing on as a sponsor last year, we’ve heard from people all over the country about our involvement in racing and look forward to what the rest of the season has to offer.”

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Said the young Connecticut native, “I’m excited to compete in the two races in Detroit after a fantastic run at the Indy 500. To carry the momentum into Detroit is massive for the team. Hy-Vee is partnering with Frito-Lay so we will have Chester Cheetah and the Cheetos brand on the car, which I think is pretty awesome. It’s a fantastic track, and I’m excited to be returning to Detroit since we didn’t get a chance to race there in 2020.”

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The Hy-Vee / Cheetos car for Belle Isle

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The thought crosses our mind that if Santino continues to represent the chain well, he may get even more races this season. Let’s hope so.

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M

[MarkyS]

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HSTV brings a vet to Indy…

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Above, we showed that the Hy-Vee grocery store chain has fully embraced the racing scene, thanks to their involvement with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, starting last year as an associate sponsor and blossoming this year, by putting a car in the Indy 500, driven by Santino Ferrucci to 6th place.

The chain has an online network they call HSTV - Helpful Smiles TV - that features regular folks and “celebrates what delights our customers every day. Our fresh lineup of shows serves up insights, tips, and entertainment to enhance any lifestyle.”

Recently, the network sent a race-fan veteran to the Indy 500 with his wife, to watch the race with the RLL crew. Take a look:

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Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

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…and click on this link:

tinyurl.com/yrfbm68w

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Neat!

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M

[MarkyS]

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We will get St. Pete until at least 2026!..

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The St. Petersburg City Council unanimously approved a two-year extension to the existing agreement with Green Savoree St. Petersburg, LLC (GSSP) on June 3rd, which extends the contract to hold the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg until at least 2026, with all those races scheduled to be held on the 2nd weekend of March, and that means the race will likely return to being the IndyCar season opener.

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Said St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman,“I am thrilled that the Grand Prix will be in the Sunshine City through 2026. I want to thank City Council for recognizing the importance of this race in St. Pete. I also want to thank Kim (Green) and Kevin (Savoree), and everyone at the Grand Prix for not only organizing and promoting one of our city’s best events year after year, but for their dedication to our community."

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The city council has had an “Embrace the Race” attitude and campaign that has born fruit and the economic impact of the race has multiplied several times over its 17 years, not only in enhancing business opportunities but in fund-raising for charities over the race weekend. It’s a great WIN-WIN for everyone, and now it’s going on, and on…

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M

[MarkyS]

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We knew it was only a matter of time…Romain Grosjean will do Gateway, after all…

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…and maybe the Indy 500 in 2022. A driver with as much talent and passion for racing as Grosjean cannot sit by too long, watching new friends having great fun, and not want to join in. Formula One ex-pat Romain Grosjean watched the 2021 Indy 500 from his home in Switzerland and got the urge and the itch to try ovals, after all, despite his saying that he wasn’t going to in 2021.

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Romain Grosjean

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After the 500 was over Romain returned to the United States, where he is living in a beautiful motorhome that he drives to the races and stays in. The motorhome was parked at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - the site of Romain’s recent pole position and P2 finish in the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Road Course.

He and IndyCar driver Conor Daly - an Indianapolis native - had dinner a few nights ago, where Romain got advice and solidified his desire to try the ovals. The race at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) will be a test for him, in effect, to see how he likes them and to see if he’s willing to step it up the final notch and do Indy in 2022.

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Daly and Grosjean - things were said and decided.

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Romain is already parked in the motorhome on Belle Isle, where he will return to the fray for the Detroit double-header weekend ahead. Following that, he will drive the motorhome to races at Road America in Wisconsin and then Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, near Lexington. His wife and three children at last will join him in the United States on July 4 for a monthlong tour of America in the coach. Then, his kids will see their dad race in August at Nashville.

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What do you wanna bet Jimmie Johnson decides to do Gateway, too? Racers wanna race.

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M

[MarkyS]

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"T Bell" in for Zach Veach at Detroit, this weekend…

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IndyCar driver Zach Veach has apparently come down with COVID-19 and cannot drive the # 12 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Belle Isle, this weekend. Pegged to replace him and co-drive with Frankie Montecalvo is broadcaster Townsend Bell, who was Frankie’s co-driver in the same car for a number of seasons, and shared a title in the car.

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Townsend Bell - Have helmet, will travel

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The # 12 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan

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It’s too bad for Zach, who is coming off his first IMSA podium at Mid-Ohio last month, where he and Frankie took P2 in only his 3rd GTD-class race. The race on Saturday on Belle Isle counts toward the GTD class Sprint Cup.

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Zach Veach

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M

[MarkyS]

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This weekend, the IMSA gang will do the Chevrolet SportsCar Classic…

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…to add to the racing at the Chevrolet Detoit Grand Prix, which will also feature the IndyCar double header and two races for the Indy Lights. (look for the separate thread.)

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There will be a number of IndyCar drivers in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Saturday - none of them current, as those guys will be racing IndyCars.

There will be DPi class cars and GTD class cars, as well as both Corvettes from the GTLM class, but no one else from the class, as this is more of an homage to Chevrolet, as the class ends in 2021. Let’s see where the IndyCar drivers are, starting with DPi class:

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DPi class - Indy Lights champion Tristan Vautier will drive the # 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi V.R for JDC-Miller Motorsports, with co-driver Loic Duval.

Tristan Vautier

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Former Indy Pro 2000 pilot Pipo Derani will drive the # 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi V.R for Action Express with co-driver Felipe Nasr.

Pipo Derani

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GTD class - IndyCar driver and broadcaster Townsend Bell is sitting in the # 12 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan this weekend, subbing for IndyCar driver and Road to Indy ace Zach Veach, down with COVID-19. Townsend’s co-driver in the car is Frankie Montecalvo. The pair have a long and terrific history in the car in prior years.

Townsend Bell

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Road to Indy ace Aaron Telitz shares the # 14 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan with fellow IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth.

Aaron Telitz (left) and Jack Hawksworth

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IndyCar driver Katherine Legge will drive the # 88 Porsche 911 GT3 R for Team Hardpoint EBM with co-driver and team-owner Rob Ferriol.

Katherine Legge

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The IMSA race will be on Saturday afternoon, late, and will be covered in the Detroit Grand Prix thread.

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M

[MarkyS]

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On Sunday morning at Belle Isle Santino Ferrucci had a hard shunt during qualifying…

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…for Race 2 of the weekend. Santino had put in a great drive in Race 1, going from a P21 start to a P6 finish in the # 45 Hy-Vee Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. On Sunday morning he made it into the Firestone Fast Twelve and was on a flier on his final qualifying lap when he lost control of the car:

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

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Santino was okay but devastated, knowing it would be nearly impossible to repair the car for the afternoon race. But the crew at RLL went to work.

The first thing they did was determine that it would not be possible to repair Santino’s car in time, but IT WOULD be possible to convert teammate Takuma Sato’s Super Speedway car to a sort of road course car, using bits and pieces from two different cars.

And that’s what they did, in exactly 2 hours, 13 minutes and 24 seconds, as shown below in 1 minute and 30 seconds:

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

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Then, Santino drove to a P10 finish from his P12 start in the Frankenstein car, behind Graham Rahal in P5 and ahead of Takuma Sato In P12 - another good day for the RLL squad, thanks to the magnificent RLL team.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Lots of IndyCar driver news for Road America…

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This weekend the series returns to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the Rev Group Grand Prix at Road America and the field will be altered a bit by injuries and circumstances.

First of all, anyone who saw the Detroit Race 1 will know that Felix Rosenqvist for Arrow McLaren SP had a terrible shunt that put him temporarily in the hospital with what turned out to be painful but NOT debilitating injuries. He was actually on his feet again, though very sore, shortly after the race. It was determined he was in no shape to drive the # 7 Chevrolet the following day and former Arrow McLaren SP driver Oliver Askew was asked to sub for Felix in Race 2.

Felix Rosenqvist

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Oliver was doing a great job, given that he had never been to Belle Isle before and hadn’t been in an IndyCar since last season. He started 23rd of 25 and was looking like a TOP 15 run before his engine suffered a mechanical and prematurely ended his day. The deal is as of right now it is unknown whether Felix is fit to drive at Road America. If not, Oliver will likely get the nod, as he knows the track very well and AMSP knows him.

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Oliver in for Felix at Road America?

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Today, we got word of another injury. Wunderkind Rinus VeeKay for Ed Carpenter Racing sustained what looks like a broken clavicle while training on his bicycle.

From the team:

"Yesterday, Ed Carpenter Racing driver Rinus VeeKay was involved in an accident on a cycling trail during a training ride. He sustained a clavicle injury and is currently being treated by IndyCar’s medical staff. VeeKay is in good spirits and has no other injuries. VeeKay’s participation in this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series event at Road America is pending and more updates will be released when available.”

Rinus VeeKay

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Chances are excellent that Rinus is out of the race, which will be a huge blow to his title hunt. Chances are also excellent that Oliver Askew could be under consideration as a sub for Rinus in the # 21 Chevrolet, should he not be needed by AMSP for the # 7 Chevrolet. We will know soon.

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Finally, Cody Ware will make his IndyCar debut for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing aboard the team’s # 52 Honda entry, teaming with Romain Grosjean in the # 51 and Ed Jones in the # 15.

Cody, who drives full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for Rick Ware Racing, tested an IndyCar with the team earlier this year at Sebring, and also participated in the IndyCar Open Test at IMS. He also jumped into an LMP2 class car for the Rolex 24 at Daytona and ended the race in 4th.

Better yet for Cody, it looks like his NASCAR sponsor, BioHaven and Nurtec ODT, have decided to fully commit to Romain Grosjean’s IndyCar season, and that leaves extra cash for extra IndyCar races for Cody this year, beyond Road America.

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Cody Ware - in the mix, at last.

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